May 15, 2024
State Strategies
Read On Arizona recently convened literacy leaders, educators, and researchers from eight states and Canada to share their expertise and collaborate around the challenges and priorities for improving student reading outcomes.
The two-day Literacy Thought Leaders Summit was part of the ongoing Arizona-Florida learning exchange supported by Helios Education Foundation.
Participants came from Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Mexico, Texas, and Canada and included literacy experts, authors, and representatives of state departments of education, universities, and statewide literacy coalitions.
Among the topics of discussion were strategies to sustain statewide literacy efforts. The need for systems-level change and developing the shared will for structured literacy efforts to improve grade-level reading were common themes, with both requiring strong collaboration and a mix of quantitative data (objective measures to monitor student progress and guide instruction) and quantitative information (case studies of what is working and how success can be achieved).
Participants also agreed that preparing and supporting educators with evidence-based professional development and coaching is another critical component for improving early literacy.
Read On Arizona’s Terri Clark and Sean Ross, executive director of the Arizona State Board of Education, shared successes and challenges in strengthening teacher prep in our state.
Among other successful approaches shared by participants, Dr. Elsa Cárdenas-Hagan, author of "Literacy Foundations for English Learners," discussed a professional development pilot program that included school leaders alongside teachers. Creating buy-in from superintendents and creating effective peer networks were key.
Building educator capacity in the science of reading is one of Read On Arizona’s four strategic priorities.
Other topics of discussion in the summit were engaging families in supporting language and early literacy development, another strategic priority for Arizona, and the potential benefits and challenges of AI in literacy education.
